Google has announced it will continue the Android Wear 2.0 developer preview program into early 2017, which means we won’t see the update roll out this year.

The next-gen operating system was expected to launch soon, but Google says it has decided to keep the preview going, while announcing the arrival of the program’s third iteration.

The big addition found in the third instalment is the Play Store, letting Android wear users browse and download apps straight from the wrist, without having to install them on their phone.

Google says the Store was added in response to developers requesting an easier way for people to discover their apps, and by following a set procedure devs will be able to ensure their apps are visible on the store.

There are other new features for developers too, including improvements to complications and support for contextual smart replies, which Google had previously announced would be coming.

You can see the entire roster of features here. If you want to get the developer preview yourself, you’ll need to own either the Huawei Watch or the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE.

We’ve already spent a fair bit of time with the 2.0 preview – you can check out our thoughts on the update so far here. Our verdict: a big thumbs up. It’s just a shame that it will now take even longer to arrive, especially as it will be skipping Christmas.